ASMR – That’s what that head tingling is

What is ASMR?

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response and it refers to a phenomenon which is very difficult to explain to those that do not experience it. It is usually experienced through a relaxing tingling in the scalp and the back of the neck and can extend into the rest of the body. It is a very calming sensation that washes over you.

I first encountered ASMR, as do most people, as a child. I never knew exactly what it was. I experienced it when certain teachers spoke, during certain TV shows and at the dentist. I didn’t understand the sensation but enjoyed it, and would try and stay very calm and relaxed every time it happened to try and lengthen my experience of it. You can read the full story of how I found ASMR in this post.

Have you ever been at the doctor, or maybe watching someone paint on television and felt a relaxing tingling sensation on your scalp or neck? Keep reading if the answer is yes, because you might be someone who can experience this unique sensation and you’re just about to open your eyes to a whole new world.

Is ASMR actually real, or just new-age pseudoscience?

ASMR is about relaxation and so much more.

Short answer: yes it is real – probably. Whilst there has been little scientific research conducted on the topic, the vast amount of anecdotal evidence is convincing that there is a common underlying condition. You can read more about the science here.

Can anybody experience ASMR?

It seems at the moment that the answer is no. Not everybody reports experiencing this sensation. Most people discover it by accident in their childhood, however some adults experience it for the first time. If you haven’t experienced ASMR before, it might just be that you haven’t found your personal triggers yet. Check out our article detailing the common triggers to see if any of them do it for you.

If none of the common triggers seem to give you the tingles, then maybe you could try a head massager. I’ve found these to give a similar sensation to ASMR, often times even much more intense.

Benefits of ASMR

Aside from the pleasurable sensation that ASMR offers there are a range of other benefits. Many intentional ASMR videos are essentially forms of guided meditations, meditating regularly has been shown to reduce stress levels and aid concentration among many other things. For a lot of people ASMR is a gateway to developing an ongoing meditative practice.

Additionally people who suffer from insomnia and regularly have difficulty getting to sleep can use ASMR videos to distract and relax them, and send them sleep when nothing else will. Some ASMR videos are designed specifically for this purpose, however if you find videos that include your personal triggers they should all be effective at this.

I think I have ASMR, how do I get started?

For many people they might have experienced the sensation of ASMR before but not necessarily understand it, or seek it out too seriously. When you first find the ASMR community online it can be a very exciting time, knowing that you are part of a group and a very welcoming community. However it can also be very overwhelming and it isn’t particularly clear where to start. For some great tips to help you get the most from your ASMR you should check out our free ebook.

To get your free copy of our ebook How To Get The Most From Your ASMR, simply enter your email address below and subscribe for our free updates. We’ll send you your free copy of the ebook, and keep you in the loop with the latest news.

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Looks interesting… some foods and bad diets might make you an anesthetic…

Timothy Tipton Warlow

I have a question about my own experience with ASMR. I do not have any of the common triggers that are mentioned here. Mine seems more cognitive than anything else. When I fully express a thought with someone who is deeply engaged in the conversation and they agree with me or give me some sign that they understand, I get an intense tingle in my head and scalp. I think its very odd, but I enjoy it and I think it has reinforced my ability and preference for good conversation. I am just curious if anyone else experiences anything remotely similar to this and if you have found anything else that goes along with it. Thanks!

Oliver Springett

I do sometimes. I also get it when I am learning/studying intently. I think that perhaps ASMR could be linked to human contact intellectually as well as physically.

Quinn Wendland

Well it happens to me when I read quotes from Gurren Lagann, so…

Alex Seb

Would something like this give you the same feeling?

Quinn Wendland

Just from the first 10 minutes, yes.

http://gaming.youtube.com/SilvaShadow1990 Chris SilvaShadow Cameron

Just listening to Sorairo Days from The Soundtrack gives me that feeling. That and any super awesome fight scene like in Lagann Henn with the Anti Spiral. #RowRowFightThePowa

darkocean

I also get it when researching! When I’m writing and a paragraph, scene just clicks I know it’s finally right because, boom my head tingles.

Carlos Cruz

Yeah mine is along the line of yours. I usually feel mine when I’m listening to music and the artist says something I can connect deeply with

I experience the same, for the first time in my childhood with a teacher, later with other people when talking to them. Until I found out about ASMR, I sometimes thought about it and just came to the conclusion that it must be some special form of sympathy. But other triggers work for me as well.

http://discoverasmr.com/ DiscoverASMR

Yes! It think it comes from an inner happiness response. I’ve heard this many times and people who has this trigger also get ASMR from being physically close to someone in a silent atmosphere

Rocky White

Yes. Mostly cognitive for me as well. I’ve experienced it hundreds of times while watching movies during particularly tender, deeply emotional, or intellectually stimulating scenes when the actors/narrators speak thoughts that resonate with me. I have also experienced this at church when someone reads scripture or teaches on a subject that suddenly triggers an “aha moment” for me; a feeling of revelation and connection to what I perceive is the spirit of God. Your comment was made a year ago, but I hope you read my response.

George Robertson

It is almost like you have synchronized your thoughts with the other person/persons, intellectually and emotionally, mind to mind and heart to heart. It creates a sense of joy that makes you feel like the inherent noise of trying to communicate effectively has been lifted and you are communicating on more levels than what is obvious.

It seems as though you have reached a level of understanding and wisdom that is outside of yourselves and you are witnessing it as though it exists as a separate entity, by itself, in it’s true form and is no longer obscured by ineffective words and expressions.

The desire to maintain that clarity and openness drives the conversation on and on until at some point it seems to have faded leaving a strong longing to find that heightened sense of awareness, attention and focus where you feel your mind has reached the pinnacle of intelligent communication that seems to approach a form extra sensory perception.

For me, it happens more frequently during a discussion that are of a spiritual nature.

I have theorized that this may be the feeling described in the Bible as being filled with the holy spirit.

smartalek

“I have theorized that this may be the feeling described in the Bible as being filled with the holy spirit.”

That is an excellent observation — definitely one worth pursuing, perhaps by trying to find all instances of Biblical references to the phenomenon, and seeing whether there’s any correlation with the activities being undertaken by the relevant individuals at the time.

Holy moly mate I get the exact same thing but more often it happens if I am telling a little story and the person seems interested OR if someone is saying something nice about me. But yes pretty much exactly waht you describe.

Harvey Bower (hEX02)

You mean like that tingling feeling when there’s someone right behind you that you didn’t see? I hope that made sense…

Lisa

Me too Peter!! I feel the same

CharlieTooHuman (Capt Obvious)

I have a wide variety of triggers… But more commonly for me, it’s through communication with nice, polite people (male or female) who speak with a comforting tone. But, I’ve recently discovered that I can get minor ASMR moments from reading emails and online messages as well.

Victoria Soper

This sounds more like frisson to me, which is triggered by emotion.

searchlight

you dont experience it or you wouldnt say this….

Victoria Soper

I experience both asmr and frisson so I am familiar with both. They are similar in that they both cause a tingling sensation. Asmr is triggered mainly by physical senses (sight, sound, sometimes smell) and produces a relaxing effect. Like you literally can fall asleep from it. Frisson is triggered by thought and emotion and produces an exciting effect.

searchlight

i get them both as well asmr feels better to me and if anyone tries to tell me its sexual they are wrong….watching the videos with women whispering is kind of a turn off so i will never ever use those vids to attain it…..i think it may be some glands excreting chemicals…some say quantum entanglement …dont know but i like it…

Victoria Soper

I agree, I don’t think it’s sexual either (I’m not sure why you would think I implied that). Try searching “no talking asmr” – those videos are much better! No whispering.

searchlight

no i didnt think you implied that i was just making myself clear….if i start moving my body the episode ends…the more i just stay still the better it is

wideyes

I often get intense feeling of tingling, pleasure, goose bumps from my heard down my back and shoulders often. But never from watching someone whispering like in the youtube asmr video’s. I get it when I watch a favourite singer/dancer who I am attracted to. It happens a lot when I see him dance or a twitch of an eyebrow or tilt of the head or a sound he makes. It’s not a sexual feeling. It’s like a blissful shock. I also get a feeling of a euphoric completion. Like everything is well with the world and totally relaxed. But I’m not sure what causes this

Michael Davis

I’m totally with you in similarity on that. I can get it from reading or watching something profound, and also being engaged in a deep connection with someone. I believe ASMR is the main reason why I used to believe in, and what I used to describe as, my third eye. Like Carlos Cruz, I also get the sensation from music, actually having been utterly attached my whole life to gaining these feelings from listening to music.

The Simp’s son

the world runs on frequencys, when people resonate with ur thought waves , You then get their high frequency waves in return, it can even work online in chat room conversations if you put the energy out you can get it back, even all the way across the globe

Misstell

I experience something similar. If I’m talking to someone who is teaching me something, or explaining something to me in detail I get tingles. I think it’s a personal attention thing because I can get it watching someone on TV explain things as long as the person is in a closeup shot and looks at the camera (me) a lot.

Doug Fairbanks

So close to myself! When I feel that someone is helping me or taking the trouble to explain something to me, either face to face or even over a phone. Almost always was men but on occasion it has been women also & that always felt extra special! But it has never been sexual at all…..just felt that someone was making an extra effort to help me with something. After some intense sessions I have been able to ‘restart’ the sensation by slightly moving my head……but once it’s gone it’s gone! I never thought this was a thing until I just read something about this in a news article…….good to know its not just me!!

http://toltecknowledge.freeforums.net/ Peter Mann

I pay extra careful attention whenever i get sensations like this.

I think empathy is a function of the spirit mind, as distinct from the body mind . . . which is where most people’s attention is fixated.

My intent is focussed on living from the totality of mySelf, on being as real as the circumstance permits.

Binkan

I sometimes feel something similar when I have tension in my head/neck and I or someone else pokes (for lack of a better word) some points in the back of my neck.

I’ve not much knowledge of muscle physiology or the peripheral nervous system (which I’m guessing this is related to), but it does /sound/ fairly pseudosciencey..

I do EEG research and at first I thought this would be a pretty difficult thing to investigate, but looking at your site it seems like some people experience it just by watching videos?

Anyone with half decent EEG lab set-up and access to people who experience AMSR could test for it’s existence easily enough, It would just need funding. EEG equipment is fairly cheap to run once you already have it, the most expensive part is probably researchers time.

If there is any interest in actually carrying out this project, I’d be more than happy to assist, hell I’d run it myself if funding could be secured, in the mean time I have a different project to finish, for which the money already ran out a while ago ; _ ;

I have been experiencing “ASMR” for as long as I can remember. Of course there are certain natural physical or visual triggers, but for me the trigger is a little more esoteric. It can happen at anytime and I generally connect to cognitive thought. I had no idea it had a name. When i am in meditation and i feel a connection with the divine (higher self, whatever anyone chooses to call it) it comes on as a full body buzz. I generally associate it with being aligned to something and getting a thumbs up, or green light to proceed. The absence of ASMR indicates a thumbs down for me, or a red light. So i guess you could say it is a tool of intuition for me. For example, i will have an ASMR top left quadrant of head, within a moment i will hear from someone i have been thinking about or not thinking about. In the beginning it would present only at the top of my crown, now it can originate at forehead or temporal lobes, base of head, etc. i had no idea it had a name until i stumbled on a you tube video and googled ASMR.bdoes anyone else associate it with something non-linear?

John.h

I can completely relate to your experiences. ASMR is a little bit more intense/concentrated for me. Sometimes during random moments, I have a second of seizure-like inclinations that are backed up with an pricking feeling of ASMR,that is located in my entire body except for the tips of my feet.

Hipphurra

From time to time I get something called AUTTAS. Am I the only one? It’s an abbreviation for an urge to take a shit.

corazontex

LOL, hilarious. I was really seriously reading and read this and busted out laughing.

smartalek

Yes, you are the only one. Nobody else in history has ever had that experience. Hopefully, you will leave your brain to science for investigation post-mortem of this unique phenomenon.

Kenny Zales

Perhaps he should also leave his turd to science since there appears to be a correlation.

adan

I can control my asmr, I love using it while driving back home listening to documentaries, I can intensify my asmr that i get to the point of crying without feeling sad but in fact I feel awaken and truly Happy

Saree Ab

I kind of feel the same as you. I can intensify it, trigger it by thought, my main triggers are motivational thoughts and real deep thoughts… I am really glad i found this community, this is the first time i know what i have been experiencing my entire life so far.

David Ens

dude a feeling is a feeling it aint some made up name for a stupid thing that allows certain people to make money on it

Ché.

Adan & Saree, I am the same as you.

The creator of the term ASMR states there are two types ASMR type 1 (you), and ASMR type 2 (which requires an external stimulus).

Being able to trigger it at will, like yourself, I have expressed an interest in taking parts in several studies.

I also personally feel that it should be possible to teach, and would love the opportunity to try this with someone.

I’d also love it if someone could get to the stage of doing research with fMRI or similar, expensive I know, but worth studying I’m sure.

http://toltecknowledge.freeforums.net/ Peter Mann

Hi Ché. I’ve been teaching myself to work with what is called the “assemblage point of perception”. A concept that is difficult to think about, but which accommodates the extraordinary range of perceptions that the “he-goes-beyond “accesses.

The concept is that when the assyp [abbreviation] shifts, then our perception reformulates to correspond with its location. Movements can be small, so the world is still much the same, while our state of mind is more or less profoundly altered.

Larger movements can assemble different worlds, and take us to distant locations within the universe. Specific positions correspond with shapeshifting, like sorcerors taking animal form, like jaguars in Mexico, and crocodiles in Papua.

The toltec emphasise positions they call the “place of silent knowledge”, the “place of noPity” and “seeing the essence” of whatever we focus upon. To withstand the rigours of facing the unknown, the spirit of an impeccable warrior is the most robust & sober of human roles.

I too am interested in working with a collaborator. There is a strong synergy that comes with synching intent, which enables doing what we are not yet ready to do alone. My home is in Australia.

My best collaborator so far was fabulously gifted, but lazy and untruthful. Wouldn’t do the study, and eventually got eaten by his self-importance. Going beyond entails dangers that ordinary men are protected from by their fixated habits, so we need to develop shields against the surprises of facing the unKnown.

Nice to see you using words like study and research. Without a disciplined and orderly mind, the unknown is best left alone.

Brittany

OMG I thought I was alone this whole time (and I am almost 30 years old). I thought I was strange and I thought I just was (and I hate to use this word but I don’t know another one to choose at this moment), attracted to these sounds.. even the Bob Ross one. I have loved the way certain sounds resonate with me ever since I was a very small child. I have purposefully bought movies and kept recorded TV shows on my DVR just so I can replay certain parts with the sounds and people’s voices that have triggered for me. I feel so relieved and happy to know there is a whole community of people just like me. This is actually the first time I have ever told a single person about my feelings on this. I have kept it hidden for years thinking someone would find me strange. I can’t even begin to describe the relief I feel knowing other people experience these triggers and feelings. I am excited to explore this further.

nomnom2:0

bob forever

Onii-sama

I alWAYS get this when listening to sad but kind of happy music from something sad if you watch anime, dango daikazoukou from clanned but i also need to be able to understand that what life meaning is under the anime.

Lo Pauls

When I was young, I got a tingling sensation in my head when I wa pushed on a swing.

And I get it when someone is braiding my hair.

David Ens

you are strange

Lynn Becker

I can’t remember when I didn’t experience ASMR, I seem to have a number of triggers, whispering, hair brushing, just watching a massage on TV, particularly the healing hand hovering type. I go to a local hairdresser I can walk to, because I’m too zoned out to drive afterwards. Great feeling I love it. However I’ve noticed if I over indulge I can get a headache, I am a migraine sufferer so I have to be careful not to trigger one by too much ASMR. In moderation it’s just a fabulous mood booster. I’m happy to realize I’m not the only person who can access this wonderful feeling.

Onii-sama

Ive never had a migrane before

glitch132

Sounds work ok, but I have always got the most (for lack of better word) intense asmr from touch. They don’t even have to touch me. When I was in 4-5 grade I would get it when someone I dont know well touched something close to me like my favorite stuffed animal or the eraser I use every day at school. Now I can just get lightly touched on the face and it will happen. I can just think about it and get it now.

Robby Jordan

I have a question. ASMR does not trigger when I am listening to electronic recordings. It has to be occurring around me. Mostly when my friends play guitar. It has to be sincere and the person has to know that I am hearing their work. I really wish I could trigger it electronically. Any tips?

bears

try a good pair of head phones. might make a difference

T Stanton

My ex boyfriend used to chew the caps of water bottles. I would hear the hard popping plastic sounds at first and as the plastic softened I would listen to the gum-like chewing sounds. I started to experience ASMR in college sitting in the dining hall listening to people eat. It is very relaxing and puts me in a good mood. After reading through many comments and watching countless YouTube videos I’m happy to know this isn’t just a weird quirk of mine. It’s been 2 years since my relationship ended and his bottle cap chewing is the only thing I miss about him lol. I wonder if I could convince the next poor guy to chew water bottle caps. Thank you for the informative article.

Roger M Edmunds Jr.

waiting on my ebook! Thanks for the help!

Tanner

Found this guy yesterday. I usually like female asmrtists but I like him.

Kelly Smith

Try watching some of ASMR Guitar’s videos.

Josh Kwon

I actually find a crinkle asmr app that I use if anyone else wants to as well. I just love the peaceful user settings and the high quality sounds! Really recommend to anyone who is looking for some amazing tingles!

I’ve had these triggers for years, going back to when I was around 8 years old. Years later, while watch Bob Ross, on PBS, I noticed that I fell asleep, and awoke 30 minutes later, totally relaxed. This happened with several other television shows as well as watching people involved in repetitive tasks, such as the lady at the gym, sweeping the floors or while having the hygienist clean my teeth. All I know is this: Whatever it is, it feels good in the back of my brain. This reminds me of my son’s study of binuarals-the constant tones, which, when experienced via headphones, causes different reactions, such as enhanced creativity or inner-peace. Perhaps those involved in Music Therapy will find this helpful in the treatment of their brain-injured patients. Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was given music therapy as part of her rehabilitation. It’s nice to have the internet to share these things.

Weasel

I thought everyone gets this ??? I’ve just discovered it’s called ASMR by accident, russell brand has done a YouTube video on it . I then went on to look for myself what it was. I then realised the sensation it was aiming at ,, the one I get all the time if I listen to a nice female call centre agent for example on the phone if I’m being sold something, I sonetimes even drag it out but then I get paranoid they know what I’m doing…. As I said I thought everyone had this sensation , I did try and describe it to my mother earlier and she didn’t know what I was talking about ,,, now I find this sort of information that not everyone gets it and I can watch these videos and get it on tap ,,,,,,, what does this mean????? I am interested in meditation too but never actually got anything amazing from it,,, does this mean Asmr is some way of meditation?? Amazing if true , how cool! Peace xx

Joy Des Anges

I didn’t even know this had a name! I have always been able to induce the feeling by focusing my attention on the base of my skull and letting the energy run. I have always enjoyed the feeling, but experience it as voluntary and not cultivated by sensory/cognitive experiences. Is this strange or are other folks eliciting this feeling when desired as well?

So. I found out about this roughly… an hour ago. And holy… what an hour it’s been. I didn’t even know I could feel this type of stuff (although for most it seems to be in their head/scalp/neck etc, for me, it’s in my chest.). My biggest trigger seem to be taps… from the crisp tap to a low thump. One thing I am noticing though, is how many girls do the videos (I can understand this, as a female voice generally has a more relaxing effect.) but I was wondering how many people prefer a male voice? Any preference to accents, etc.

I’d love to hear peoples views on that!

Joy Scola

Alex Seb

See if you like this binaural video.

Joy Scola

Michael Valvo

wow. I never knew what that feeling was called until now. I’ve kept it to myself all of these years because I was never sure how to talk about it. I discovered mine in kindergarten when a girl traced her finger along a page. I can experience ASMR pretty much whenever I want now. for me, it’s a combination of sound and motion. for some reason, an Indian accent triggers it very easily. it’s an amazing feeling. I’m curious, does anyone know if there are any health pros or cons with ASMR? have any studies been done?

Ryan

I can trigger my ASMR at any time and it helps me gather my thoughts and calm down easily. It is weird to do, I have just recently found out about it and I was really strange knowing that not everyone could just do it anytime, sometimes or not at all so this is so strange before I found this out I thought I was just giving my self goosebumps just without the bumps so those are my feelings I just had to get out of my system.

Al Poole

I’m not sure how to say this, but I’ll try. I think this experience is a spiritual one. I get the impression that when we appreciate something so simple and quiet this pleases God. It’s our own willingness to accept such “insignificant” events and appreciate the beauty of things which would otherwise be discarded in our noisy and materialistic lives. The appreciation of “small” things, be it sounds, sensations, smells which would otherwise be ignored really pleases our Creator, these sensations are a gift, a “thank you” for appreciating the wonder of nature and creation in all its beauty, especially the seemingly insignifcant moments and events in time ignored and forgotten by mankind…

Al Poole

This sensation is triggered by spontaneous, simple, appreciative and loving thoughts of thankfulness. In the moment of thankfulness in the present situation of right now, usually thankfulness of simple things, in thought, God is well-pleased.

Qwert

I don’t know if I have asmr but when I’m playing on the Xbox, in my dad’s lawn chair that has never been outside the house, my face some times gets warm and it spreads and last s longer if I relax my muscles and don’t move. And if you do have asmr does it always start at the scalp? If I do have it, it always starts at my cheeks and moves donward

Qwert

I keep randomly getting this weird sensation that feels warm and kind of tingly but I can’t tell because it happens randomly and last for a very short time but if I relax my body it comes to my face and spreads every we’re else and lasts a little longer for some reason its not strong enough to make me sleepy or relaxed for to long unfortunitly. I don’t know what this feeling is and most triggers might not work for me because I may not have asmr but I’ve never had this feeling at all before until recently.

Orion

I always get this when someone stands really close behind me or when someone compliments me. Anyone else get that?

Brenda Plumley

Yes! but not everyone that stands beside me, because some people creep me out!

Lisa Olson-Grannan

I attribute it to my son in spirit being present. It didn’t happen to me until after he died. I can’t control it and comes at random times, I’m not able to pinpoint it. It comes in every quadrant of my head at various times of the day and some day’s only a few times. Lately it’s often and much stronger. I thought perhaps because we are within several weeks of first anniversary of his death.

Qwert

I’m not sure if I have asmr or not but I’ve never felt this feeling or some thing similar to this at all but I felt it 8times while playing battlefield hardline today but I know it not from that. When it happens I get a small tingly sensation and it’s warm and fuzzey and feels nice but not strong enough to make me really relaxed. I don’t know why but when ever I feel this and close my eyes and relax my muscles, it seems to last a little longer then if I move around. I know this isn’t frission because I don’t get energized by it but it makes me want to sleep.also I have aspergers, ADD and ADHD. I’m not sure if this makes it so I can or can’t feel this or not. can some one please reply?

Brenda Plumley

I do not need to hear sounds or even seen any particular thing to experience ASMR. I experience it more through just visualisation.

Helen C

Finally something to explain my “photocopier man” feeling which has been a standard joke in our family. I first discovered this feeling when I was a teenager working in an office where a repair man would come regularly to maintain the photocopier and I would experience this sensation of well-being while he was working. It was in a fairly small office and usually he would clean the screen with an acetone base cleaner so I always thought that the fumes from that created a mini “high”. I have had it at various times usually when there is someone repairing something in the office eg putting data cables, fixing sockets etc. I now work in a research lab and have had it when participants are in another room being tested with senors on their heads and I have no visual or auditory input from them just the sense of them being there. I have had it to a lesser extent from acupuncture and find massage of any kind extremely unpleasant. It’s nice to find out that it’s not just me that has this strange feeling for no apparent reason.

Erik Moore

My experience is through some songs, but I don’t understand what it is that causes it. I even doubt it’s asmr, but I can’t seem to find any answers. Can anyone here assist me?

Kyle Ashford Foster

That might be “frisson” which is different than ASMR from my understanding. I get frisson from music occasionally – but I can’t consistently listen to the same song to purposely trigger it. It’s certainly a different experience from ASMR for me though.

Erik Moore

Ha. I never actually expected someone te respond. How will i know if it’s asmr?

lolama

Frisson is kind of like “shivering,” “shuddering,” and you get goose bumps and your arm hair stands up… Asmr is a pleasure inducing “buzz” or tingle that usually occurs in your head, scalp, or inner ear among other places.

Nicola Marie Lucas

Mine seems to be completely random things. The only one I can remember at the moment is as a child watching someone fix a car or something out of the window.

Kyle Ashford Foster

I just discovered I was capable of triggering tingles on purpose this past month, after it popped into my head one day to seek out a video of a cat grooming itself (my trigger) to see if I could purposely trigger that weird relaxing feeling that I had experienced occasionally growing up, but had never really fully thought about. So that was pleasant. Then oddly enough a week ago I attempted to articulate this experience to a friend at a party (not knowing the term ASMR – nor even aware that it was a known thing, I simply described it as this peaceful, totally non-sexual, relaxed feeling I get from watching cats grooming themselves). Against all odds, this friend said, “oh, you’re probably experiencing ASMR – you should look it up.” Needless to say – it’s nice to find that indeed there’s an entire community of people online that have the same capability. Thought I’d share my experience and ask a couple questions.

I seem to have two triggers:

1) cats grooming themselves

2) toddlers or small kids quietly focussed on doing something like painting, drawing, or cutting paper

The most popular stuff discussed amongst ASMR community is whispering and tapping – and I get it a bit from that – but one thing is, I know that when the person is addressing me (or the camera as it may be), that seems to dispel ASMR for me. In fact, I’d say a pre-req for me to ASMR is that I am in the role of passive observer – perhaps that speaks to my personality? I know I have introverted tendencies. That leads me to the first of my questions:

Q1) For those of you that can ASMR when conversing with someone, would you consider yourself otherwise extroverted?

Q2) Has anyone found their triggers wear out over time?

Q3) Has anyone found they’ve been able to acquire or develop other triggers (either deliberately or otherwise)?

I’m totally playing armchair scientist with these questions (anecdotal evidence gathering), any responses are appreciated.

relmny

Like those who posted before me, I have experienced ASMR for many years. My earliest memories are around the second grade. In my second grade class, we were required to read with partners; however, I was a more advanced reader and would allow my partner to read the entire time if he/she wanted. I would experience intense tingling around the crown of my head listening to him/her read, but I would also experience very intense tingling in the frontal lobe region watching him/her turn the book pages. Around the same time, I would intentionally watch Bob Ross on PBS (like others have mentioned) to take a nap due to the same tingling sensation and calm/relaxation he induced.

I had an abnormal psychology professor in undergrad that would have me drooling by the end of class because her voice was so “soothing”. Lately, I have found that instructional videos via Youtube do the trick. I’m embarrassed to say, but I watched a video of some random guy giving a tutorial on how to properly clean out your ear for roughly a year (lol). I can watch nearly anything instructional to induce the sensation, but I am drawn to videos in which the narrator has an accent.

Diane Loux

I find it difficult to find videos on Youtube because of the huge amount of whisper videos out there. Whispering doesn’t do it for me and it is much better for me if the video is unintentional – If you have any favorite instructional videos please pass them on, thanks!

Until I discovered this community of people who experience these tingles I thought that my sister and I were the only ones who experienced it. These days it is my sleep aid of choice.

Onii-sama

Same the only thing that i found triggers it is unintentional and usually music that isnt loud isnt happy but sad, nostalgic, with a lil bit of happy

Some comment that rolling the eyes up and being blank or in trance whilst awake is having a seizure. Yet, a euphoric one for me. Most medical dictionaries refer eye roll up as a clinical symptom. I don’t.

I don’t know much about brain chemistry, but I guess there is either the release of dophamine or oxytocin, maybe both at the same time. Hormones of happiness.

Jules Lovatt

I am in my early 30’s and have experienced this feeling since I was very young. I never understood it, but always loved it. It was my “special feeling” I’ve only just looked it up online and found this. You sum it up so well. I love make up tutorials on youtube, where they are talking to you but working with their hands and sometimes it’s the “click” of something…like when they are putting things away but not rushing….its that sound that also brings it out in me. I have it at work quite often, when someone is showing me something and its the click of the pen, or the keyboard that sets it off. It’s an amazing feeling and I love having it, never ever thought it was a “real” thing!

Bob

I get it when someone uses my things, such as borrows my pencil. It may just be the inadvertant attention that I get.

Ellen

Me too!! Especially more ‘personal’ things, like my agenda.

Sarah Spencer

Holy crap. My whole life. I never knew there was a name for this. Omg mind blown!!

David Ens

bullshit feeling good is not asmr its just feeling good period … get a life

lulu

Mine are triggered by so many things, and random. None of them can be triggered intently or by a YouTube video. Mine’s are someone trying to tell me what to do (pseudo authority), telemarters, the way they speak sometimes, Hand gestures, page turning. Lol

Crystal Visions

Have you tried unintentional videos on Youtube? Try this one:

Ambreen

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Lol I have had this since I was 6 yrs I met a woman on the street and aske me if I was ok and then I got intense waves of this feeling from the back of my head and it got so intense so that the waves was gong thru my whole body and I could feel the waves pusling thru my body and that was my first experience Now I am 16 and I can make myself get this feeling just from my own thoughts

Lua Jones

I’m not really sure if I have ASMR or not – I literally discovered it was an actual thing a few minutes ago – but I am very sensitive to sounds. Certain chord progressions or note progressions in songs, and other sounds like people eating watermelon give me the tingling feeling described. But I also get the opposite. For some reason, certain sounds make me feel queasy and sick (like the sound of someone pulling a string through their fingers). Is this ASMR, or related? Or if it’s not, does anyone know what that is?

Bob

I have a question, How do I know if I trigger it? Some of the ASMR videos are simply relaxing, but I don’t actually feel a physical tingle?

nomnom2:0

try different stuff sit down ( at least for me when im lying it doesnt work to well) close ur eyes for a moment and just try to let go from ur limbs for a moment also try to have the lessest amount on strain on ur muscels

nomnom2:0

thats hoe it works for me

John L Dolan

I experience this occasionally. The strongest occasion was approx 12 years ago. I was in the “High Country” NE Victoria, North of a town called Mansfield. I was out hunting Sambar Deer, 10 K’s from my off sider and in open bush land. About 1 Hr prior I came across droppings from wild dogs which were prevalent in the area and a real problem for farmers. I had this sensation all over my head and down my neck, it scared me. I had the feeling someone, something was watching me and was a bit shaken. I pulled myself together and continued my hunt. Never came across any deer or anything else that day.

GPolkaDot

My sensations occur randomly and normally while I am sitting at the computer browsing the net, reading email, or playing my favorite games. I have not noticed a specific trigger and therefore have become concerned that it might be symptomatic of an underlying medical disorder… pending heart attack, diabetic neuropathy or a sinus irritation. I finally chose the correct key words to get Google to lead me here. I just downloaded the book so haven’t read it yet.

Brogettenks

I also happen to be able to trigger asmr at will pretty much instinctively; the intensity sometimes is weak though if i cant concentrate due to interference. The intensity is far greater than when it is caused by external stimuli though. Anyone alse capable of directing the feeling (always starts at the base of the skull for me) to parts of their body at will??

Cassy Bella

Hi! I am not sure if I experience ASMR or not. The only thing that I know is when someone whispers, speaks (low/high notes) close/near my back I get chills/tingles/tickling sensation. But when the sound doesn’t travel straight to my back, I dont get chills. I have been searching for answers and ASMR is the only thing close to it. I hope that you guys can help me. Thanks.

Sadly, no :'( I suspect that the majority of us humans are bereft of the experience, and that you are among a lucky minority. I also suspect that it manifests at different rates in different cultures — which, if true, would raise the question of whether there are genetic components, environmental components, or both… As well as whether the sensitivity can be developed in people for whom it’s currently not present; ie, whether there’s a latency period in some people.

George Kadifa

Hello, I’ve experienced ASMR since childhood and never knew what it was. I have similar triggers to the ones you described, however accents in particular (my Russian childhood piano teacher for example) trigger the sensation. Is accents a common trigger?

Holden

Not trying to be disrespectful. But it would be funny if you actually never cared about learning piano but you just wanted her to stick around for the ASMR trigger.

And accents are quite common a trigger. It is about as common a trigger as it is a fetish,

Artur Chmiel

Hi All I had have asmr all my life but just in recent years startet wandering and researching this”condition”. Since I like to give myself little relaxation with my asmr I have noticed weird feeling like some sort of presure on my chest when I do it alot My question is whenever it is safeto do it? I was born with lots of conditions like eg. heart problems and I’m concerned about my heart since I felt it first time. It is not a pain but a pressure like somebody sat on my chest(not to heavy tho ;)). I live in UK and doctors here(gp) are total waste of time and sending me to other gps instead of directing me to a specialist. Can anybody direct me somewhere where I could get some answers or for some sort of clinical tests please.czit1231@yahoo.co.uk (one of my bilion emails so it is ok to use it). Many thanks for any help. With tingles.. Arthur

darkocean

Does anyone get the head tingling (I call them head rushes and it rushes over you.) when reading a a book that you just love? I can can know instantly if I will love a book if I get that rush.

nomnom2:0

i get something similar to asmr like my heads is getting all spike like smth is under my hair skin

darkocean

neet

Travis Noske

I used to think it was something religious then it was triggered by non religious music. I think mine is tied to ideas that seem to be deep and profound to me. When I really feel my place as one human among billions that is hurling through space on a small rock that is spinning around a constant nuclear fusion explosion. Connection to Humanity and Beauty.

Onii-sama

same

Aaron Leask

Looking for Amsers to this riddle for 35 years. I was born in ’72, experienced AMSR since childhood, asked thousands of people through my life, none empathised with me, I thought I was unique or touched in the head. I would activate usually from watching people performing simple tasks, like drawing and conversing while in deep artistic thought (Graffiti Artist since ’85), or watching a Teacher perform a task for the class.

I would spend all Friday, Saturday drawing outlines with my 3 best friends, discussing art, colour and symmetry for hours, then spend all Saturday night bombing trains, painting together would activate it intensely, in the dark, spooky and exhilarating all at the same time, while four kids spent their weekends silently breaking the law to paint Top-to-Bottom Wholecars just for art’s sake)

Met an old man in the late 70’s at a family gathering, a hippy Painter, who told me it was “Enlightenment” that I was feeling, brought on by an empathy overload, and that he also was affected by the condition (blessing?)

Cut to 16th June 2016, I find this website. I am not alone it seems. That makes me very happy to know. That others can feel the deep mediative effect themselves. Having only met one person (the Painter) before today, who empathised with what I was feeling, it comes as a pleasent suprise to find others with the same Deep Empathic Ability as I.

Evolution at it’s peak, I say. The Empaths are Coming! Imagine an army of empaths, invading countries with empathic love, care and understanding and fully loaded Steyr’s. Fuckin’ unstoppable.

Empaths of Earth Unite!

Aaron Leask

Unbelievable, I find this website after 30+ years.

Well. I started getting ASMR or Empathic Enlightenment as I called it, since the late 70’s. At a family gathering in ’79, I spoke with an old hippie Artist, a Painter, a friend of my mothers, who told me it was “Enlightenment”. Empathy for a moment shared he said. He too, was inflicted with the ability, and spoke in a hushed tone about it, Bob Dylans “Hurricane” played in the background, as he told me about the metaphysical and artistic side of life. I never forgot that night, and “Hurricane” is still my favourite song.

I first got the tingles (as I called them) at seven years of age, I would be sitting with a friend, or alone, listening to the radio, drawing, talking, suddenly everything gets hushed, quite, talk is low, personal, close. To me, it feels like Empathy Overload! Deep feelings of shared tragedy, celebration or experience, in song, speech or shared moments of complete silence. But it’s empathy operating at a very high level, that’s what I feel. A deep understanding of the law and order of… everything,

You feel quite literally, euphoric, but quite. A moment of deep reflection mixed with an even deeper empathic connection with the subject or sound, And as you grow up, your empahic abilities grow as well, you learn more about the world around you. You may have had a brutal upbringing, You may carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. But you see things differently, you may be gifted, no trauma at all in your life so far, touch wood. For me, it happens while practicing a shared love (graffiti/drawing, in my case) A shared activity (relationships), a menial task (work) or shared adventure (your life), there are so many triggers. I can be alone, an get light empathic feelings for others or even a different race (suffering somewhere in this world), who aren’t even there, I’ll never even meet them. Empathy doesn’t ask permission, it is permission! We are waaaay past that point now people! Spiritually, physically, mentally, we are connected.

Person to person, Holy Shit, I can ASMRse off!

The only way someone can feel what we here, obviously feel, that isn’t inflicted with ASMR. Is to go out with friends, to your favourite club, drop pure MDMA, and wait….I’ll see you on the dance floor. I’ll be the six foot seven Infantry Soldier, waiting for you to come dancing, I’ll be dancing with the biggest smile on my face, for you, dancing with friends, lovers, strangers, until we’re all fucking annihilated, lying on the dance floor, in one mind, one moment, one achievement, shared and experienced together, forever and ever and ever. Then we go home, have a shower, lie down, and feel refreshed, and wonderfully happy, exhilarated just to exist, Lying there, that very moment, is what ASMR feels like. That beautiful feeling of peaceful serenity and contentment, just to be alive and kicking, together, connected, forever. That chemically induced empathic euphoria, is the only feeling that comes close to what ASMR feels like.

But ASMR is free, you don’t grow it, it doesn’t come in a little baggy, you don’t inject it, snort it, smoke it, swallow it or inhale it. You simply make an empathic connection with a situation, a sound, or a soul, and you listen to the sound or the soul’s voice, the unfolding situation and you’re off and racing rollerskaters.

ASMR, Enlightenment, The Tingles, whatever it is, I am so glad I was inflicted/blessed with the Empathy Overload Gene.

Empathically Yours, Big A

Ché.

What an absolutely beautiful piece of writing! Thank you so much!

nomnom2:0

i can trigger my asmr on some occacions without anything but only on some occasion like when im seeing a breathtaking view (mostly clouds and im closing my eyes at the beginning)

Onii-sama

I get asmr but only listening to nostalgic music? why???? can someone explain?What i mean but nostalgic music is music from something i liked but is sad but kind of happy at the same time. Maybe like anime dango daikazokou

Onii-sama

Why can i trigger a mini asmr? its half as pleasant but still REALLLY REALLY pleasant i just focus on my head and go down through my spine

Amir McCuller

It mostly happens to me when something epic happens at the end of my favorite anime opening or something like that

Alan Aranda

I’m trying to “self trigger” my asmr…impossible for me right now. Any trick? Mine works when i watch someone “cleaning”.

Ché.

Alan, I trigger at will, and it’s triggered almost from behind the eyes.

I shut my eyes and kinda mildly ‘scunch’ my eyelids, the sensation comes immediately from the temples to the ‘back’ of the brain and courses down through my body.

I’m sure with perseverance this could be teachable.

Alan Aranda

Amazing…and must be very useful when you can’t sleep. I will try harder.

scribbleartie

I have just found out about ASMR, and never knew there was an actual name for how I became so mesmerised by certain things. I don’t get tingles or anything physical, just get so entranced by the “thing” that nothing else matters, and I end up staring like a hypnotised fool at whatever the trigger has been! haha! Mostly it is aural, like accidental whispering (I don’t enjoy the deliberate whisper videos on Youtube), crinkling of packages (again, accidental, not deliberate), or sometimes it is visual, like someone quietly playing with their hair, or gently rummaging in their bag for something.

Matthew W J Wilson

Hey all! If your an ASMRtist, you might wanna check out ASMRbar.com. ASMRbar.com is a website were you post your videos to receive extra attention and feedback!

Tess Löwenhardt

Hey Matthew, thanks for the comment. However, I only see an MP3 entry point. I’m very much looking for ways to share the Channel I’m working on very hard (with a lot of joy). So it would be very welcome, but can you please give a link on where exactly? (Any tips on where people look and which is a good way to get noticed is welcome!) Thank you so much! <3

Matthew

Hey Tess! On the homepage at the top is a button called “submit video”. Sign up to the website and submit your YouTube video link there and shortly it will appear on the website

Tess Löwenhardt

Hey Matt, found it! I had to login. Thanks so much! I’ve entered two now, not sure if I’m even allowed to enter several at the same time. But I’ll go back there every now and then.

Helen Kelley

I have repeatedly tried listening to ASMR YT videos, however, I have found them actually highly irritating and not calming. The whispering (extreme soft speaking) cause me great annoyance. You are right in that not all people respond to ASMR videos in the same manner. However, a back massage with calming music, listening to powerful worship music, dialogue of a spiritual nature, sitting by water and meditation on Scripture are triggers for this sensation.

Carmcar

I wonder if I have this ASMR thing too. The only thing that I don’t have in common like the rest, is audio. I only get this feeling, this “head-orgasm feeling,” when someone or something touches, like a kitten’s whiskers, a feather or someone’s hand, the side of my temples or near my ears. This feeling is very difficult to describe. When this happens I automatically close my eyes, I smile involuntarily and I get this tingling sensation all over my head. It’s a really good feeling too. Also, I’m not sure if it goes through the rest of my body like the rest of you, because I guess I’m feeling this sensation and I’m unaware of it. I remember when I was little I would get this feeling when I would play with a cat and they would head-bud my face and this feeling happened. I wasn’t sure what it was and was afraid that someone would see me making my face doing the “involuntarily closing my eyes and smiling” thing. So, I try to snap out of it as fast as I could… my question is, is this the same thing? Do I have ASMR?

Rose-Stella Ahmed

Is there any relationship with this and being an Empath?

Holden

Every Empath is different but I have not seen a common theme between all the ones I know. I myself have a really weird experience with this (as Empaths normally do with everything). I listen to ASMR every night for about 6 months with no reactions until one random day. Now I get it very occasionally with no pattern in sight. I do know Empaths who get it with basically every video they watch and some who just find the sounds of asmr creepy and do not get the tingle at all.

Sort of but also not weirdly all of the Empaths I know love Reiki ASMR. But not all of them get the tingles in Reiki sessions they attend. Sort of weird how unifying it is with people. I am yet to meet a person that does not like Reiki if they have tried it.

Foglight

quantum entanglement at its best matching frequency

Brian Holiwell, MD

I’m a prematurely retired, disabled, UCLA med school trained pediatrician, due to a stroke and for me ASMR occurs only with music, but just what I call exquisite(level) music. Interestingly before my love for science, my first love was music, as an alto, tenor, and baritone sax player as a child. My experience is that it always is full body, at the onset, and sometimes is accompanied by a slight body warmth effect. It is always a very pleasant sensation, and does not always occur with these level of songs. Not maybe related, but I’ve become a sensation at party type celebrations, as people are amazed at my dancing skills without my quad cane, without much use of my limited right side of my body. They look at me in a crazed way when I tell them I really don’t consider it dancing, in the strictest sense, but it’s like the music and I are symbiotic, and I become the music so that my body just starts spontaneously moving in such a way they would not believe possible, with much improved balance, as people start to hoot, holler, clap and recording with their smart phones. I’m not putting on a show, just enjoying music at the highest level I know. I have always loved music intensely. Initially, I did what I call chair dancing, all upper body, for quite some time, after my stroke.

Yujuni

Dang, I’ve always wondered what that was. I get it by sounds. Flipping of pages, quiet whispers, crinkling, and sounds that are focused, in a sense. I’m glad I found this.

Lost4words

I’m conducting a survey regarding ASMR for my statistics class. If you have the time, please respond to the link. It’s only 8 questions, but I need to collect data from as many respondents as I can. Thank you for your time.https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DQ3GNX5

SmotheredHope

I first remember experiencing asmr on ecstasy when I was 16 years old. I am now in my thirties and have been addicted to heroin/opiates for the past 12 years. I recently went into treatment for the first time and as I was sitting in these large AA meetings I would get an intense tingling sensation starting at my head that would sometimes spread throughout my body. It would definitely happen when I would hear something particularly emotional or inspiring. It’s probably the greatest natural high I’ve ever felt aside from breaking into hysterical laughter (which I did plenty of at the treatment center). But yeah, great site here and I looking forward to learning more about the world of asmr!

Jay EmmCee

There is no doubt that ASMR is real. I only found out recently that there is a term coined for that feeling and that not everybody experiences it. I can tell you with 100% certainty that it is better than sleeping pills and in many cases, anti-anxiety medication.

Dominic Alexander

Ok so I get the best ones from being in dangerous situations and feeling that fight or flight mode, however I can controll it on a whim. Can anyone else feel control theirs?

Ché.

Yes I am the same as you.

The creator of the term ASMR states there are two types ASMR type 1 (you), and ASMR type 2 (which requires an external stimulus).

Being able to trigger it at will, like yourself, I have expressed an interest in taking parts in several studies.

I also personally feel that it should be possible to teach, and would love the opportunity to try this with someone.

I’d also love it if someone could get to the stage of doing research with fMRI or similar, expensive I know, but worth studying I’m sure.

Rebecca Jarl

You have no idea how happy I was when I found out what ASMR was. I have had the trigger since I was a child and just like this says, I never understood what it was but I liked it. But sometimes bothering me. Like, if I need to focus in school while a teacher is trying to help me, but the sound of them flipping the pages in a book makes me sleepy and lose focus. And when I haven’t had enough sleep I seem to get the trigger from almost everything…

Brian Naugle

There are more of you! This is awesome. The only pattern I recognize that triggers my Asmr is that the person is usually a stranger. Sometimes but not always I am being taught or something is explained to me. People who don’t understand seem to think i am describing some form of attraction but that has nothing to do with asmr for me. I have actually been shocked by certain people that have triggered it. It’s definitely a “it takes two” thing for me. I have to be near the person. It’s almost like they are transferring something to me. Really weird to type asmr I have never been able to explain it to anyone and end up feeling a little crazy when I do try. I accidentally stumbled across this when trying to find this other sensation I have been getting for the last year or so when I’m tired. If I am relaxed watching tv/laying in bed and I hear an unexpected sound I get the half second electro type pulse/buzz in my head. It’s not painful but no enjoyable either. I get it a lot. Happens most when my phone dings from a text. Motion can trigger it as well but sound seems to trigger it more often. Anyone heard of Or experience anything like this?

Kevin

Listening to my best trigger right now =) Rain! Brings back great memories of camping during rainstorms.

I’ve had this and been aware my whole life. (40 now). Fastest way to trigger me, besides rain, is to touch my neck. I am pretty sure that is how I fell in love with my wife. In college she was always playing with my neck, because she discovered it was a fast way to shut me up. She really did put me to sleep once too.

I always thought it was just a thing everyone experienced, until I asked my wife. Then I looked it up on the internet and learned a bit more.

http://asmr.ninja ASMR Ninja

Nice website with a lot of information for new ASMR people! Im just doing my own version in spanish!

joethetimelord

When I’d first heard of ASMR I was never really susceptible to it and figured I was one of the unlucky ones. After about the fourth attempt (which actually came unexpectedly) I got an intense sensation, almost like a tug, in the back of my head. It’s an amazing feeling, though, as the article describes, is nearly impossible to put into words.

It’s not really a physical feeling if that makes sense, but there is a powerful reaction to the sounds nonetheless, to the point where I’m instinctively arching my neck, and a feeling does wash over you that is truly unique, almost addictive. What I don’t fully understand is why my mind chose just now to react when I haven’t had anything close to an ASMR experience before. I’d say that I’ve just found the right trigger, but I’m even reacting to videos that did nothing for me in the past. Like something clicked in my head recently.

Has anybody else experienced something similar, where the floodgates just kind of opened unexpectedly?

joethetimelord

And when I say intense I mean really intense: more powerful than some reports I’ve seen. It was almost overwhelming at first.

Holden

Wow similar and different from me. I listened to ASMR every night for about 6 months when I felt tingles for the first time. It was for probably less than 2 seconds, then a month or two passes before it happens again. But it is happening more often but still randomly. Some weeks I do not get the feeling, other times it is multiple times a week. But every time it is for less than 3 seconds. I am questioning if it is just pins and needles but feels nice because the asmr is so soothing. But you are the first person I have found who had a “delayed” experience. My brain might just be making this up due to my repeated listening and intense research into the subject.

And part of the reason it is seemingly addictive is that it causes your brain to release endorphins (feel good hormone) in an easy and effective manner. Doing that regularly can cause you to crave more. So far it seems harmless, I never heard of someone who has issues because of it. And the research done seems to say it is harmless. But it is just a good feeling induced through sound rather than a substance so you seek more of it. Just enjoy it for all those who cannot

joethetimelord

I’m glad that it’s at least showing up for you occasionally. It certainly seems to affect people differently and it’s an incredibly strange, though wonderful, phenomenon. I don’t pretend to understand it fully myself, and haven’t done research on it other than to check if it’s harmful, which from what I’ve seen doesn’t seem to be an issue. My reactions seem to have gotten more intense lately, sometimes to the point of having to pause the video for a short while in order to calm it down a bit.

Aside from sleeping more deeply, however, ASMR hasn’t had any negative or addictive effects, and really just feels amazing. Here’s hoping.

If I have any advice at all it’s to keep trying with as many triggers and artists as possible until you find one who really hits you. It seems you’re already starting to feel something, and honestly you are describing similar sensations, so I say keep going with it.

One artist in particular, MissASMR, always sparks a reaction from me. Makes me wonder if the response is also visual in some way.

Holden

The thing that works best going back over it was tapping noises, it happened randomly with others but when there was tapping in the video was when it was most “common.”

Unfortunately I fall asleep faster with “weird” personal attention asmr. Basically my playlist is comprised of me getting kidnapped by two different Yandere (anime trope), 3 different vampires, dating a pop idol, having a maid that cooked over 30 food items for 2 god damn people, working for an alchemist water spirit, getting murdered by a serial killer, some reiki ASMR, and one video with tapping. It is weird but it knocks me out.

So it boils down to “Do I want sleep for school tomorrow, or should I pursue a sensation that has very little research done to it?”

joethetimelord

Tapping noises and roleplay seem to be your triggers, with tapping being your biggest one. I say go with that flow and you’ll start to recognize the sensation the second you feel it. It may even come more often, but then that’s just a guess. ASMR seems to be a very personal thing that varies greatly from person to person.

For me it’s tapping, whispering (the closer the better), hair brushing (directly on the mic, not just raking a brush through hair), and hypnosis (even if they’re only attempts or roleplay). Medical or other kinds of roleplay don’t seem to affect me at all and just come off as phony in my mind. It’s the sounds themselves, and their intensity at very close range, that hit me hardest. I don’t really care what’s being said. In fact I get just as much out of asmr in languages I don’t understand. Pretty sure French in and of itself is something of a trigger.

Even then, though, nothing actually makes me pass out while listening. In fact particularly intense asmr is incredibly stimulating until the sensation passes. Then I’ll be tired, and sleep comes quickly.

Holden

Yeah pleasure hormones tend to do that to people once they stop. That or cause you to want to repeat the action. And accents or different languages are about as common for ASMR as they are for people’s fetishes. Russian/German ASMR is pretty great, as well as Scottish accent ASMR.

But Roleplay itself is not that big a trigger, it is mainly just the tapping that would trigger it, haircuts maybe but the type I like are rare on youtube. Roleplay asmr just helps fill the social or behavioral voids in my life. I have a very idealistic sense of romance so a lot of the RP’s help with that. I have a weird obsession in researching sadomasochism and the masochism aspect is easily found in asmr that is similar to a Yandere or Vampire RP. The sadism I get filled from games even though no one expects that from a guy who apologizes as he passes by someone and without inconveniencing them. And in many cases people are just sort of getting sick of this commercialized “physical world” so I am not that alone in seeking fantasy settings. Out of the 10 most popular movies of 2016 in america 9 of them were fantasy.

Up to this point myself and quite a number of people I know just use ASMR to fill these gaps in our life as a quick and easy means to do so. Very similar reason a lot of people go on to the internet for stuff (socialization programs and phones a lot of the time trigger “feel good hormones” to go off). But now that I seem to get some sort of response I will prob just try tapping video’s while I am reading before I go to sleep to see if it triggers. Thanks for the advice.

Ashten Stephenson

I’ve been experiencing ASMR since childhood, although Its only been about 6 months since I discovered that other people experience this same feeling. I have never really been able to “conjure” the tingles, they just come when they come. I have identified my triggers to be more of the one on one human interaction variety. Here’s my question: since discovering the ASMR community I have tried watching several different types of YouTuber’s (men, women, different styles, topics, etc.) but the videos (although they can be nice and relaxing) never make me feel the same as “the real thing.” Does anyone else find his to be the case? Have you discovered any way around it if so?

Ché.

For me ASMR is completely voluntary, as well as triggered by external stimuli. I feel that it should be possible to teach people to trigger the ‘sensation’ for themselves and I have been mulling over how to describe the process over the last few days.

I have been able to trigger ASMR at will all my life, I am 45 now, I have never considered researching it until a day or so ago and it’s all completely fascinating.

I have expressed interest in taking part in trials, over the last few days also, as I can trigger whenever and I am completely ‘blown away’ by people’s experiences and the fact that there are videos and such available etc. It would be wonderful to contribute to the study and research of this ‘phenonomen’.

Holden

I am a bit curious since I did not seem to have ASMR. I never experienced it in my life but I started listening to ASMR early 2016 with no other reason other than how relaxing it was. But after what must have been at least 6 months I felt what most people describe as the head tingles. I did not experience this feeling again for about another month or two but then I started to get the head tingles at what seems like random times. Some times it is once a week, other times it is once a month. It is still rare but it seems to happen more than initially. I mainly listen to personal attention asmr, tapping, or reiki asmr but no single one regularly triggers it. Am I just getting a “pins and needles” feeling or is this asmr? It is very short and very random if I feel it or not. Not a single “trigger test” I have found has triggered this. Anyone with a similar experience or a possible explanation? The only things I can come up with is that I started cognitively simulating it, It is just pins and needles but the asmr is just relaxing so it feels nice, or a gene was activated due to my repeated listening and research into the topic.

searchlight

quantum entanglement of the pineal gland

Ben Watson

I’m slightly late to the asmr party – only just found out about it – and am still in disbelief.. Like a lot of people on here I’ve had it since childhood and thought I was the only person in the world who had it! Most intensely with dentists (talking to their assistants), school nurse inspections and air hostess safety demonstrations – the obvious ones let’s say – but also to a lesser degree with nature documentaries from the 1970s (British Columbia Forest documentaries) and the Open University (in the UK) course module videos, also from the 70s. Both of which featured fairly spaced out electronic music and softly spoken boffins..

Steph Pegg

ASMR with my first experience I was feeling down and a little upset it help me threw it. Now to trigger it I don’t have to try anything it happens on its own. I don’t really meditate I just breath slow and calm it gives me a nice hit of serotonin, I have been experiencing it for 10 years now.

Hannah Carter

Hello Everyone!

I myself never knew what ASMR was until later in life and to be honest I cannot say that I really remember feeling the tingles when I was younger. I found out about ASMR through videos of people doing hair and makeup tutorials. This has been about 1 year ago and since then I have fell in love the ideas of what goes on in the neural levels of ASMR interactions. Please feel free to visit my blog to learn more about what I would like to accomplish with ASMR and cognitive behavioral therapy! http://hncarter.weebly.com/blog

Steve Blackburn

is it weird that my triggers are people typing on a keyboard and rummaging through things like a pencil case or toolbox? lol

charlotte verity

I have had ASMR for as long as I can remember, but had no idea it was actually a recognised thing! I only get mine from for example; someone looking through my makeup bag, or using something of mine, anything that is gentle and concentrated (if that makes sense) I watch ASMR videos which are makeup tutorials or spa role plays – they are amazing for relaxation and sleep.

Joyce Norton

I might have experienced ASMR this one time when I was listening to a song. I don’t believe it was though for the reason that it started on my upper back, to my neck, then head, and then it jumped to my upper arms. So it might of been reverse ASMR?

John

Sounds like just normal. When you feel it you know it. That jumping around sensation can start just like yours did. Mine starts at the base of my neck traveling up like the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up, but more relaxing and very nice. Feel like giggling inside, then shoots up to my scalp and down my arms and waves travel everywhere. Whole thing can be over in a few seconds. Experiencing the trigger over again still produces symptoms but maybe not so much/or in different places. You get to feel kind of drugged. I may not feel it if I listen to a song I love from beginning to end, but will if it’s a snippet of the chorus or lead up to it. A few minutes ago I got triggered from hearing a sample from iTunes of a song I bought recently. That song has a lot of trigger types in it. Sounds like whispers or gentle waves, light tapping beats, breathy singing, violins.

Maybe that’s the FORCE Starwars is talking about running through your body in waves of energy. What if we can use it somehow?

cleverendemine jr

i have only experienced ASMR very little. mines more physical. sounds dont really seem to trigger me. when i was in first grade we would have this exercise were we would outline a letter of the alphabet with are fingers on each others backs. the light touching sensation on my back would trigger me and i would sometimes fall asleep in class. on rare occasions it would trigger if someone did something for me like draw a picture for me. i never understood what it was in tell i found this web-sight describing what i felt. i am still looking for more triggers and wondering if any one else has had similar triggers.

getitright

i know theres health benefit with ASMR, there has to be. i feel like good tingles is a release of dopamine or seratonine, it has to be, theres no other explanation why you would feel a pleasurable sensation in the same area where your Pineal Gland is located. Its Juicing Your 3rd Eye!

Ramiro Villarreal

I can trigger it at will, whenever I want with any kind of intensity as I please. I can concentrate the sensation in any place of my body, say tip of a single finger or my whole body. But, I want to know, is it wrong to abuse it? Or is it good? What can happen if I continue using it? By the way, I don’t need external stimuli to activate it, just the desire to do it, it’s like moving your hand.

Ché.

Ramiro, I am the same as you.

The creator of the term ASMR states there are two types ASMR type 1 (you), and ASMR type 2 (which requires an external stimulus).

Being able to trigger it at will, like yourself, I have expressed an interest in taking parts in several studies.

I also personally feel that it should be possible to teach, and would love the opportunity to try this with someone.

I’d also love it if someone could get to the stage of doing research with fMRI or similar, expensive I know, but worth studying I’m sure.

Ramiro Villarreal

Oh, definitely. I would also love to do research or have someone else do a study about how it is getting triggered, used, etc. How it affect would be amazing to know.

Alan Aranda

I wish i could do it too. Maybe it is something you are born with and not possible to learn. I read that 1 in 1000 can feel ASMR and maybe you two are 1 in 1000 between people who has ASMR and can trigger it at will.

Tony Kendall

Thats amazing! I used to have many of these instances when I was a kid, even recently on occasion too!

Michael Carter

Any kind of detailed review of a product I’m interested in (electronics, bikes etc), or a how-to guide (including recipes) sets mine off – Youtube is a veritable gold mine. Also podcasts or lectures on things of interest.

VeraJae

I got get the ‘relaxation’..being touch, certian pitch of voices, have my hair messed with.. it causes the tingly/prickly feelibh from my shoulders to the middle of my back….. i hate it.. it sets me on edge more than anything else..

james wong

ASMR and Afterthoughts – How i wonder about it.

In this time and age. We still don’t know much about the brain and how it really works. Including ASMR Triggers.

Basically what i think, That Some specific ASMR Sensations derrive from what i call Basic Survival Instincts. Just like moments when your eating, drinking and sleeping. This is just a theorie, and not saying this is correct but hear me out.

When your hungry or when your thristy, upon drinking or eating your brain feels allot better. When consuming it your brain triggers natural dopamine activations in the brain signaling a rewarding behavior. (note that this is done on a regular basis when using alcohol or drugs, where the drug invades the brain dopamine receptors thus requiring a higher dose of whatever the person took, to get the same experience.

But when people are watching ASMR, the person does not really drink , eat or cared for in a sense. Triggering a similiar response to the pleasure center of the brain without even doing somthing.

ASMR is harmless and is safe. But our brains become so smart that they know how it works, and it find ways to make you happy without really doing anything but this could also lead to abusing them such as drugs & alcohol & sigarettes, etc…

I experienced it first hand and so has many others that, ASMR sensations reduces when listening to it frequently. But the sensations do come back when you stop listening for a while. Isn’t this the same with drug users? When they become so addicted that they require a higher dose, everytime to get the same experience?

I had no idea this was a thing. I just assumed everyone felt this. There’s a dude at work that can put me in a trance almost instantly. Not very helpful at the office!

David Ens

I think asmr is bullshit when I listen to it I get no feelings at all , actually I am glad I dont cuz it sounds like a whole lot of mind controling crap I am going to be so happy when the world dies and we can all fade into blissfull oblivion

Andrejs Zavaruhins

1. Do you have different reactions depending on who is the source of the sound? For example, I have very distinctive reactions, i.e. if someone from my relatives does the mouth sounds, I get irritated and at times even angry. I even leave the kitchen if I hear my relatives making the sounds while eating. Purely biological, can’t explain it. The sounds are unpleasant for me. But if a random person or someone I barely know from an opposite sex does the mouth sounds, I can get ASMR or pleasurable feelings.

2. Do you get rush through the spine and scalp when catching adrenaline? For example, while doing sports and trying to boost myself even further, I watch Zombie pov clips, like this one – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvICHck3PIg, I get huge rush of adrenaline up the spine and neck, because I feel like I’m running in that clip. But I also get peaks of euphoric rush in my head and I scratch the scalp, the crown of the head in circles. It’s definitely not ASMR I am experiencing, but the same thing – scratching the crown of the head is attributed to both, ASMR and this.

3. When something falls by itself during the night in my room, I instantly wake up from sleep and feel the adrenaline going up the spine and top of crown. I violently scratch the top of the crown in circles. Maybe it’s not adrenaline alone, but adrenaline accompanied by serotonin, dopamine or oxytoсin?

Anyone can relate to that?

Savannah Wright

I don’t think I have ever experienced it? I watch the ASMR videos and get satisfied, but I don’t get a tingly feeling…

Pri-Mark Sutton

Mine is triggered if someone I wouldn’t expect takes an interest in something I’m talking about, or something I own, a project etc.

Greg Tufnell

My main trigger is watching someone concentrating silently on a mundane task (writing, drawing, ironing, cleaning, doing a puzzle) and them not being aware that I am aware of what they are doing. I also find sometimes that having a haircut can produce the same sensation. I also find that the feeling can sometimes be accentuated by gently rubbing the back of my neck with something like a pen or the end of my glasses. I haven’t yet found a video that works as a trigger – it needs to be there for real and even then doesn’t and won’t happen “on demand”.

Elena

Is there anyone who’s feeling ASMR and misophonia at the same time? I think they are connected and I would like to get my brain studied somehow, because what I feel is so strong – at times very relaxing but at times really annoying. Thank yo

Adam

didnt think i’d find the answer..but here i am.

Lola

Hi! i have some questions about AMSR, I’ve been feeling it since i was very young but it is not on the scalp or neck, it has always been in the forehead, like it was a third eye or something. The sensation is the same, thats why I belive is AMSR, but the place has never been in the scalp. It’s really beautiful because i can feel how it spreads to all over my face, my eyes and cheeks. Has anyone else feel it on the forehead like me? Have you hear it of people like me that has the same sensation described like AMSR but in the forehead?

pd. the english is not my first language so im very sorry if this doesnt have much sense.